What is evil?
We believe anything which directly or remotely tends to cause unhappiness or suffering of any kind is evil.
On the forum under the thread entitled, “How does God Create Evil” our friend Robert Derrick quoting from Isaiah 45:7(KJV)
“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”
States:
“He is the Almighty Creator of everything that we know. Who are we to judge anything that He does?
I agree not to judge God in anything that he does, if it is Scripture that says he does it. God creates darkness and evil.”
The assumption made here, possibly is based on the scriptural statement “that all things are possible” with God, and yet we know that this is not true.
Understand it is all POSSIBLE THINGS that are possible with him, NOT those things which are impossible, which go against His nature, which are inconsistent with his righteous character.
"It is impossible for God to lie."--Heb. 6:18. "He cannot deny himself."--2 Tim. 2:13.
Because of His immutability or unchangeableness (Jam. 1:17) it is impossible for God to deny Himself, or to do any wrong in any sense. The Divine character of Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power could never be altered or swayed in the slightest degree.
The scriptures affirm that; all his works are perfect, therefor He cannot do wrong, HE CANNOT SIN.
What is sin?
“Sin is the transgression of the law.” (1 John 3:4)
Whose law is this?
Why God’s law, the divine law.
So then are we to believe that God would transgress against His own law?
Certainly not!
Is evil a sin?
If evil is admitted to be sin, then it is impossible for God to do evil.
And yet we read:
“Shall the trumpet be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid? Shall evil befall a city, and Jehovah hath not done it?” (Amos 3:6 KJV)
Where did evil originate? Is God the author of evil?
“The word evil in the text cited has the meaning in the Hebrew language of adversity. These evils or calamities were sent upon the Jews as chastisements for their violation of the terms of the covenant which they had made with the Lord. The evil here referred to was not evil in the sense of its being a wrong or a sin.
Right and wrong, good and evil as principles have always existed and always will. Principles are eternal. Sin was produced by the evil principle becoming active, and began with Satan who permitted evil to control and dominate his course of action.
Sin and evil were introduced into the world by Satan when he induced our first parents to disobey the Divine command. Thus, the race has come under the dominion of sin and death supervised by Satan, the God (ruler) of this "present evil world." (2 Cor. 4:4.)
A few excerpts from an interested article.
God is ... what?
I found three places where we are told explicitly that God is ...
1 John 4:8 God is love. [repeated in vs. 16]
1 John 1:5 God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Heb. 12:29 God is a consuming fire. (Fire is often equated with light).
It is interesting that the first creative work concerned light (“God said, let there be light: and there was light”—Gen. 1:3).
So, when in the creative process did God create evil?
If you say he did not create evil, what do you do with ... Isaiah 45:7
Where Did Evil Come From?
Once upon a time a university professor challenged his students by asking this question:
“Did God create everything that exists?”
The students said he had. The professor went on: “If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then God is evil.”
I’m glad we don’t usually meet people who argue like this. I’m not sure I’d know the best thing to say in this instance. The story continues:
Another student raised his hand:
“May I ask you a question, professor?”
“Of course.”
“Professor, does darkness exist?”
The professor responded, “Of course it does.”
The student replied, “But in fact you are wrong, sir. Darkness does not exist. Darkness is only the absence of light. Light we can study; darkness we cannot. We cannot measure darkness. How can we know how dark a certain space is? We actually measure the amount of light that is present. Darkness is just a word we use to describe a situation where there is no light.”
The student was not finished:
“Sir, does evil exist?”
Now uncertain, the professor responded, “Of course, as I have already said, we see it every day. It’s called man’s inhumanity to man; there’s crime and violence everywhere in the world. These are all manifestations of evil.”
But the student disagreed: “Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist by itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness. Evil is a word we use to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil; it is not like faith, or love, that do exist just as does light. Evil is what happens when God’s love is not present in man’s heart. It’s like the darkness that is produced when you withdraw the light.”
How true.
Darkness was the steady-state condition before God’s creative act brought forth light. Similarly evil is the condition when God’s righteousness and love is absent.
Look again at that Isa 45:7 text. Light is contrasted with its opposite: darkness. The next word, peace, is also contrasted with its opposite: “not peace” [translated “evil”]. That Hebrew word is translated “calamity” (Psa. 141:5), “adversity (1 Sam. 10:19), “misery” (Eccl. 8:6), and similar words. It is never rendered “sin.” Sin cannot be associated with God in any context. There are other texts in the Old Testament that associate “evil” with God; in all such this same Hebrew word is used, meaning calamity/adversity/misery. The Hebrew word is never sin.
Several good translations:
“I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things.” (NLT)
“I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.” (Berean Bible)
And of course, the NKJV
“I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.’”
We suggest the following blog post for those seeking a better understanding:
The Permission of Evil
Why does God permit evil?
The Great Mystery of Evil
Why Evil Was Permitted and Related Topics
We believe anything which directly or remotely tends to cause unhappiness or suffering of any kind is evil.
On the forum under the thread entitled, “How does God Create Evil” our friend Robert Derrick quoting from Isaiah 45:7(KJV)
“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”
States:
“He is the Almighty Creator of everything that we know. Who are we to judge anything that He does?
I agree not to judge God in anything that he does, if it is Scripture that says he does it. God creates darkness and evil.”
The assumption made here, possibly is based on the scriptural statement “that all things are possible” with God, and yet we know that this is not true.
Understand it is all POSSIBLE THINGS that are possible with him, NOT those things which are impossible, which go against His nature, which are inconsistent with his righteous character.
"It is impossible for God to lie."--Heb. 6:18. "He cannot deny himself."--2 Tim. 2:13.
Because of His immutability or unchangeableness (Jam. 1:17) it is impossible for God to deny Himself, or to do any wrong in any sense. The Divine character of Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power could never be altered or swayed in the slightest degree.
The scriptures affirm that; all his works are perfect, therefor He cannot do wrong, HE CANNOT SIN.
What is sin?
“Sin is the transgression of the law.” (1 John 3:4)
Whose law is this?
Why God’s law, the divine law.
So then are we to believe that God would transgress against His own law?
Certainly not!
Is evil a sin?
If evil is admitted to be sin, then it is impossible for God to do evil.
And yet we read:
“Shall the trumpet be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid? Shall evil befall a city, and Jehovah hath not done it?” (Amos 3:6 KJV)
Where did evil originate? Is God the author of evil?
“The word evil in the text cited has the meaning in the Hebrew language of adversity. These evils or calamities were sent upon the Jews as chastisements for their violation of the terms of the covenant which they had made with the Lord. The evil here referred to was not evil in the sense of its being a wrong or a sin.
Right and wrong, good and evil as principles have always existed and always will. Principles are eternal. Sin was produced by the evil principle becoming active, and began with Satan who permitted evil to control and dominate his course of action.
Sin and evil were introduced into the world by Satan when he induced our first parents to disobey the Divine command. Thus, the race has come under the dominion of sin and death supervised by Satan, the God (ruler) of this "present evil world." (2 Cor. 4:4.)
A few excerpts from an interested article.
God is ... what?
I found three places where we are told explicitly that God is ...
1 John 4:8 God is love. [repeated in vs. 16]
1 John 1:5 God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Heb. 12:29 God is a consuming fire. (Fire is often equated with light).
It is interesting that the first creative work concerned light (“God said, let there be light: and there was light”—Gen. 1:3).
So, when in the creative process did God create evil?
If you say he did not create evil, what do you do with ... Isaiah 45:7
Where Did Evil Come From?
Once upon a time a university professor challenged his students by asking this question:
“Did God create everything that exists?”
The students said he had. The professor went on: “If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then God is evil.”
I’m glad we don’t usually meet people who argue like this. I’m not sure I’d know the best thing to say in this instance. The story continues:
Another student raised his hand:
“May I ask you a question, professor?”
“Of course.”
“Professor, does darkness exist?”
The professor responded, “Of course it does.”
The student replied, “But in fact you are wrong, sir. Darkness does not exist. Darkness is only the absence of light. Light we can study; darkness we cannot. We cannot measure darkness. How can we know how dark a certain space is? We actually measure the amount of light that is present. Darkness is just a word we use to describe a situation where there is no light.”
The student was not finished:
“Sir, does evil exist?”
Now uncertain, the professor responded, “Of course, as I have already said, we see it every day. It’s called man’s inhumanity to man; there’s crime and violence everywhere in the world. These are all manifestations of evil.”
But the student disagreed: “Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist by itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness. Evil is a word we use to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil; it is not like faith, or love, that do exist just as does light. Evil is what happens when God’s love is not present in man’s heart. It’s like the darkness that is produced when you withdraw the light.”
How true.
Darkness was the steady-state condition before God’s creative act brought forth light. Similarly evil is the condition when God’s righteousness and love is absent.
Look again at that Isa 45:7 text. Light is contrasted with its opposite: darkness. The next word, peace, is also contrasted with its opposite: “not peace” [translated “evil”]. That Hebrew word is translated “calamity” (Psa. 141:5), “adversity (1 Sam. 10:19), “misery” (Eccl. 8:6), and similar words. It is never rendered “sin.” Sin cannot be associated with God in any context. There are other texts in the Old Testament that associate “evil” with God; in all such this same Hebrew word is used, meaning calamity/adversity/misery. The Hebrew word is never sin.
Several good translations:
“I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things.” (NLT)
“I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.” (Berean Bible)
And of course, the NKJV
“I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.’”
We suggest the following blog post for those seeking a better understanding:
The Permission of Evil
Why does God permit evil?
The Great Mystery of Evil
Why Evil Was Permitted and Related Topics
